Councils are committed to providing value for money to taxpayers,which is why they have cut £1.4 billion from the local government pay bill in the past year, with 90% of local authorities slashing senior management costs in the process.

– Local Government Association

In its bid to undermine public trust in public spending and public services, the so-called Taxpayers' Alliance has taken far too simplistic a look at a complex issue.

It is deeply unfair for low-paid council workers to be hit with a three-year pay freeze whilst bosses and senior managers see their pay rise by up to 50%.

Two-thirds of local government workers earn less than £21,000 and are struggling as three years of frozen pay hits hard. This unjust pay policy has to end - local government workers and their families cannot take any more.

Mr Alltimes no longer works for the council, which now shares the position of chief executive with another London council.

According to the study, the local authority with the most employees receiving more than £100,000 in 2010-11 was Barnet at 47 - something the council immediately claimed was untrue.

The number is wrong. The Taxpayers' Alliance is cross-referencing two lists that don't contain the same information. The council had 25 staff, including interim staff, on total remuneration over £100,000.

A further 16 appear on the list because of redundancy payments and another six are teaching staff. This number of teaching staff also includes redundancies.